Harry Baldissera will be the face of the Arte Laguna Prize 2026 awards ceremony.
Contemporary art is, by definition, constantly evolving, but there are figures capable of accelerating this change, bringing with them a vision that breaks traditional molds. Among these, Harry Baldissera stands out, as he will lead the opening ceremony and awards ceremony for the Arte Laguna Prize 2026 on November 6th at the Arsenale Nord in Venice.
Who is Harry Baldissera: the innovator of contemporary aesthetics
Harry Baldissera is an art director, curator, and presenter working across the visual arts, theater, and cultural planning. With diverse roots in French-speaking Switzerland and the Veneto region, Baldissera has built a deliberately elusive identity over time, eschewing rigid definitions and conventional biographical narratives. His reserve becomes an integral part of his language: rather than through data and chronologies, he tells his story through his works, allowing them to define the scope of his research.
His training began in the theater as an actor, director, and set designer, evolving into a multifaceted career that includes television and audiovisual projects, including the format Itinero, of which he is the creator and presenter, dedicated to the artistic treasures of small Italian towns.
His multidisciplinary and independent practice is distinguished by a holistic approach that blends different languages and techniques, developed in part through his experience in the international advertising industry. Throughout his career, he has conceived and curated projects in Italy and abroad, collaborating with institutions, artists, and cultural organizations, and bringing art into unconventional contexts such as hospitals, businesses, and hospitality spaces.
The fulcrum of his research is the Paciu Maison, an inhabitable artwork and creative laboratory born from the renovation of a rural farmhouse. Here, art and life merge in an open and constantly evolving system, inspired by a rhizomatic logic. Through mixed techniques, reuse, and material experimentation, Baldissera constructs immersive environments that transform space into experience, conceiving art as a process of exchange and connection.